Blood Frenzy

A four is generous. This is a mediocre low-budget slasher with poor gore effects (that it inexplicably dwells on, so you really have time to appreciate how unconvincingly rubbery that neck-slashing looks) and dumb characters. The premise is entertaining--a psychiatrist takes a group of patients out to the desert for presumably healing encounter-group-type work--but even by the usual know-nothing standards for such subjects, "Blood Frenzy" really botches it. The characters are all one-note caricatures of various conditions (nymphomania, alcoholism, frigidity, anger management, post- Vietnam PTSD, and what seems to be simply a case of "bitchy lesbian"), and it's ridiculous that anyone would think they could all be treated together. But OK, it's a slasher film, we're not here for realism.

The "name" actor here is Lisa Loring, who plays the lesbian, which in this kind of movie of course means she's a "man-hater" and puts the make on every woman in sight. (She also wears too much makeup that still seems to be perfectly fresh after a couple days' desert camping and various travails...but there I go, looking for realism again.) Hoo man, she is terrible. She starts out yelling and just gets hammier. The other actors are adequate given their silly roles and sometimes sillier dialogue.

You don't expect a lot from a movie like this, but it really does a poor job of building any suspense, delivering shocks, and other horror basics. By comparison "The Hills Have Eyes" is a masterpiece of complex plotting (among other virtues), if we're talking stuck-and-terrorized-in-the-desert movies in general. Why DID I give it a four? Well, you know--we'll all seen worse.

Nowadays it's hard to come by this movie. The copy I found is very bad, audio and footage were damaged (and I even think it was a fandub?) and it's all in all a trouble to find this movie and then additional trouble to watch it and more than 90% of people won't endure such trouble to watch this movie. But those who do (and I'm assuming those brave few will be hardcore fans of the horror genre) will find a nice little slasher that obviously had effort put into it. Characters are interesting enough to make the watching of a movie entertaining and the whole thing has a certain kind of atmosphere and charm. It's not scary or creepy, so don't go in expecting a hidden gem, but it's still entertaining if you can appreciate the effort. It's also worth noting that the director of the movie is Hal Freeman, and he was a porn director, so it's no wonder female characters are dressed in a bit revealing fashion, which serves as nice bit of eye candy. All in all, just for the chemistry between the characters and the obvious effort put into the movie, I give it 6/10, but I recommend it only to hardcore genre fans, because everybody else won't finding anything here that's worth their time and can safely regard the rating as it currently is, a 4/10...

This movie was not in the least what I expected. With a typical brainless horror title like "Blood Frenzy", I assumed it would just be another one of those countless formulaic slasher films out there. In fact, the only reason I rented this tape was because the video box proudly displayed the distributor's logo in large, conspicuous type: HOLLYWOOD FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT. I thought it was absolutely hilarious that a company whose name implies that their movies are good, clean, wholesome fun for the entire family would have a title like "Blood Frenzy" in their catalog. Upon seeing this, I grabbed the tape and headed to the front of the store, not caring whether the film would be good or not. I just had to see it now.

Blood Frenzy is actually more of a mystery film than a true horror movie, although it does manage to blend the two genres quite nicely. The plot concerns a doctor who takes her six patients, each with serious psychological problems, on a trip to an old, secluded cottage in the Mojave desert. Her intent is to enact daily sessions of confrontational therapy with her patients, free from the usual distractions of the rest of the world. A couple of days later, however, we find that their RV is broken down, the food and water supply has suddenly become exhausted, and the people are being killed off one by one. Who is committing these murders, and how will be able they contact anybody for help?

This movie will really keep you guessing, and I think it's safe to say that even if you are able to correctly guess the identity of the killer, you'll still be satisfied with the ending. It really wraps the story up nicely.

If you ever get the chance to see Blood Frenzy, I hope you decide to take advantage of it. Though it's not particularly scary, it does have a great story, nice special effects, and a cast of believable, well-acted characters. I look forward to seeing more titles from HOLLYWOOD FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT!

Ah, the 80's...big hair, twelve step programs, bad slasher films..."Blood Frenzy" features all three, in a way that is at least mildly interesting. The central plot device involves a therapy group cavorting around Death Valley for a weekend "away from it all" in the 110 degree sun! Just as they are settling into their weekend digs (the whole thing would fall apart as a premise now because of cell phones) , the slicing and dicing starts. Of course, the van they came in has been sabotaged, so they have to figure out how to get away from the crazed killer, while dealing with their own psychological problems. This film is quite similar to the far better "The Hills Have Eyes". The dialog is sometimes laughably bad (the last line of the movie is "It's over"...) and the acting rarely gets to a level above your average student film. That said, there is something almost endearing about "Blood Frenzy", maybe in the way it encapsulates the first wave of Straight-To-Video movies, when local Mom and Pop stores were filled to the brim with cheap, knocked off junk like this. No one is ever going to do a delux DVD remaster of "Blood Frenzy", and even at a distance of 15 years it seems almost as quaint and dated as a 1950's low budget drive-in movie. To me, this is part of its off-the-wall charm, but if anyone actually wants to watch an atmospheric horror flick...avoid this title!I gave this movie a rating of **** , largely for personal nostalgia for this kind of stuff, but the actual rating in any sort of objective sense would really be a * or at best a **! Enjoy!

BLOOD FRENZY is a SOV (shot-on-video) horror film I'd heard lots of good things about, yet after I watched it, I have to say that I feel it is overrated, which might be the first time I've ever said that about a SOV movie!

A psychiatrist takes six of her patients in an RV out in the desert for a little isolation therapy, where each will confront his/her problems in an attempt to fix them. However, someone begins killing them in bloody ways, leaving an old jack-in-the-box as their calling card. Is it someone in the group? Or is it someone else?

BLOOD FRENZY started off strong, yet petered out during the last half or so. One of the film's strong suits is the entertaining and three-dimensional characters. I can't really pinpoint many really likable characters, but as quirky as the bunch was, I thought they were all believable, due, in part, to the strong performances given by the cast.

The writing was above average, and I feel the desert setting is a sadly underused setting in slashers. There's a good amount of bloodshed and some realistic throat slashings, including a really good opening murder.

Unfortunately, BLOOD FRENZY became a little too repetitive for its own good. The murders seemed like they were all the same, and even the characters grew to be a bore. Throughout the film, the tone was serious yet a bit goofy at the same time. During the climactic showdown, it just turns to all out goofiness, which really doesn't work in the film's favor.

The movie also features Lisa Loring (Wednesday from THE ADDAMS FAMILY), who would go on to be in the much more entertaining slasher (this time in the snow!) ICED (1988). As it stands, I'd say it's worth seeking out, but don't expect much out of it.